Biden-Harris campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon warned staff to avoid watching cable news to prevent further demoralization among her team.
As the daily calls, both public and private, for President Biden to drop out of the presidential race continue apace more than three weeks after the debate, campaign staff are reportedly suffering from a lack of morale. In that regard, O’Malley Dillon called a meeting with all staff on Friday, telling them to ignore the news and instead listen to Biden’s hardcore supporters for reality.
“Don't watch cable news all the time,” O'Malley Dillon told his staff, according to Axios. “That's not the real world. The real world is the voters who are with us, the delegates who are with us, and we're going to get through this because of this organization.”
Biden loyalists and Democratic lawmakers admit the president's campaign feels like it's over: report
Axios reported that Biden campaign manager Jennifer O'Malley Dillon told her staff: “Don't watch cable news all the time.” (Photo of Biden by Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images | Andre Chung for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
“When they give me the polls, I'm going to give them direct contact with the voters,” O'Malley Dillon said, sources told Fox News. “The people who are listening to the president are saying, 'Stay in this race and keep going and keep fighting, we need you.'”
“Those voices will never be as loud as the people on television, but remember that people in our country don't watch cable news,” he added.
FOX NEWS CHANNEL AUDIENCE SURPASSES MSNBC AND CNN DURING SECOND QUARTER
Just hours before the call, the campaign manager made a rare media appearance on a cable news channel, assuring viewers and hosts of MSNBC's “Morning Joe” that Biden remains in the race and is “more committed than ever to beating Donald Trump.”
“The president is in this race,” O'Malley Dillon told the show. “You've heard it said over and over again, and I think last night we saw exactly why, because Donald Trump is not going to offer anything new to the American people. He's the same person he was in 2020. He's the same person he was on the debate stage.”
The cable news channel reportedly has enormous influence in the White House.
Many of Biden's allies have expressed concerns about his ability to beat former President Trump in the 2024 election. (Biden photo by Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images and Trump photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Axios previously reported that both Biden and his staff closely follow the MSNBC morning show, to the point that “because Biden watches 'Morning Joe' so frequently, most of his top aides watch or follow the show to anticipate potential questions from him.”
The outlet also reported that Biden “often calls co-host Joe Scarborough, a former Republican congressman who is now a harsh critic of Donald Trump, to get Scarborough's take on issues and sometimes to vent about media coverage, according to people familiar with the relationship.”
Biden himself called into “Morning Joe” earlier this month to try to drum up support.
“The bottom line is we're not going anywhere. I'm not going anywhere,” Biden told the hosts, both ardent supporters who had begun to waver after the debate.
“I wouldn't be running if I didn't absolutely believe I was the best candidate to defeat Donald Trump in 2024,” Biden added. “We had a democratic nominating process where voters spoke clearly. I got 14 million of those votes.”
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Fox News Digital reached out to the Biden campaign and did not immediately receive a response.
